Virat Kohli is a man on the edge at the moment. The former India captain hasn’t had the best of times since landing at the Melbourne airport last week.
First Kohli got into a scuffle with an Australian media person for filming his daughter Vamika and son Akaay without permission, then aggressively bumped is shoulders with 19-year-old Australia debutant Sam Konstas on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Thursday. The Indian batter got away with a fine of 20 per cent of his match fees and one ‘demerit’ point to his record even as many former Australian players including Ricky Ponting felt that Kohli should have been banned for the Sydney Test.
On Day 2 of the fourth Test at the MCG, it was inevitable that the Australian crowd would be against Kohli. After first spitting at the crowd, in India’s bowling innings, Kohli lost his cool again while returning to the pavilion after being dismissed for 36 in the first innings of he game.
In a video which went viral on social media, Kohli is seen stopping near the tunnel leading up to the dressing room and tried to confront the fans booing him before being led away.
Virat Kohli almost recreated that incident with a CSK fan at Wankhede pic.twitter.com/35qDBKxuv3
— Pari (@BluntIndianGal) December 27, 2024
Kohli looked very solid for the majority of his innings before being involved in a horrible mix-up which resulted in the run-out of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was batting brilliantly on 82. Kohli and Jaiswal had put on over 100 runs for the third wicket by then and were well on their way to getting their team on top after losing the early wickets of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
But Jaiswal’s run-out seemed to have disturbed Kohli, who till then had avoided the temptation of playing at deliveries outside his off-stump. But just before the close of play, Kohli once again fell to his weakness – the delivery well outside his off-stump – caught behind off the bowling of Scott Boland.
Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s wife Sanjana Ganesan reacted to the video and spoke out in support of Kohli. “Really disrespectful behavior with country’s best batter. Criticism is ok, but abuse crosses the line. Upholding the spirit of cricket and supporting our players with dignity,” Sanjana Ganesan tweeted.
Really disrespectful behavior with country’s best batter. Criticism is ok, but abuse crosses the line. Upholding the spirit of cricket and supporting our players with dignity.#ViratKohli #INDvsAUS #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/NnZPDkeOs7
— Sanjana Ganesan (@iSanjanaGanesan) December 27, 2024
Kohli and Jaiswal’s late dismissal meant that India had frittered away all the good work of the final session and are once again staring at a heavy defeat, still trailing Australia’s total of 474 by 310 runs. The Royal Challengers Bangalore batter was dismissed for 36 off 86 balls, his second-highest score in the Test series so far after his second innings hundred at Perth in the first Test.
